A phosphor element of the aforementioned type can be used e.g. with a light emitting diode (LED) or a light emitting laser diode in order to convert the e.g. blue primary light thereof (the pump radiation) into e.g. yellow conversion light (the conversion radiation). The phosphor element emits the conversion radiation in response to the excitation with the pump radiation. In this case, the entire pump radiation need not necessarily be converted in the phosphor element, rather proportionally non-converted pump radiation can also be used together with the conversion radiation in a mixture, that is to say that, in the example just mentioned, non-converted blue primary light and the yellow conversion light in a mixture can then produce e.g. white light.
In this case, the phosphor element is typically constructed from phosphor particles having a customary diameter of not more than 5 μm, if appropriate also somewhat more depending on the field of application, and can be produced e.g. by applying a suspension (matrix material), with the phosphor particles therein and curing said suspension, such that the phosphor particles are then embedded into the matrix material. The phosphor element can be arranged e.g. on the emission area of an LED or on some other suitable substrate. In the case of such a phosphor element, e.g. the thermal properties may be disadvantageous, in particular a low thermal conductivity.